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Metal on metal. Horrid screams - some from the Bulkheads, some from the people. The distant wail of a siren. The flashing red lights. The hiss of escaping air. None of which mattered.
Kayda grunted as she pushed herself forwards. She was doing a million tasks at once, and one of her hands was already preoccupied, held tightly over her side. She could feel the blood escaping from it, muddying her uniform- oh, what did she care. She wasn’t going on parade. She just… had to get to the room, the safe room.
It was up ahead. Even in the dim red emergency lighting, she could see through the door, and through flashes that were either a revolving light inside, or her brain slowly perishing, she could see that it was empty.
Fuck. It was empty.
She kept pushing. She could run, but with her injury, she wasn’t certain if her kidneys would be able to take it. Instead, she kept dragging herself forwards, holding tightly to the rails that lined every corridor. Grab, pull. Grab, pull. She would’ve turned off her mag-boots if she didn’t fear her haggard hands fumbling those motions, potentially stranding her in the centre of the aisle. She kept dragging; one hand on the rail, one hand on her side.
The doors, still open. She could see through, she was so bloody close. So close. She could make it. She pushed off from the rail, but she felt as if she’d forgotten how to walk all of a sudden. Yet, her legs took over where her brain could not. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. She made it across the threshold.
Turning around, she half hoped to see her whole department behind her. But… no. Looking back, in the dark of the red lights, she saw nothing. Her nose was clotted with the stench of blood. And, as the ringing faded, she only heard the hiss of escaping air.
She closed the door, and all she could hear was the silence.
“Argh- FUCK-” She jumped, startled by the cry, fumbling with the torch on her belt, pulling it off and shining it to the far wall, before sweeping it down, and seeing the source. A man, just as haggard as she, surrounded in a fine mist of his own blood that seeped from his back.
“Oh Lords-” Kayda said, immediately rushing over (well, rushing was a strong word), as she knelt down besides the man. Her hands worked without her command, immediately lifting up the bag she had at her side- oh fuck, oh thank fuck. She had picked up her medkit. Even in her delirium she hadn’t forgotten rule zero - always have a medkit. She unlatched the top, the contents gently jostling and floating about as she searched for it- there, coagulant foam.
“H-hi, hello, hi.” She spoke up, trying to keep her own voice steady. “You’re injured-”
“NO SHIT!” The man cried out in response.
“I’m a medic, I’m here to help, stay still.” She pulled the cap from the foam like she’d been trained a thousand times to do, and the motion was incredibly smooth. She would’ve spent more time being impressed if she had it.
One hand on his shoulder. Second hand on the injector. Place the injector on the injury. Take first hand off shoulder- fuck she was bleeding again, fucking- lord- blood going everywhere- with the first hand, compress the injector pump.
The man cried out even louder as the foam quickly joined and melded with the flesh around his wound. The smell of plastic glue, the horrid acrid taste it brought to the air, wafted right into Kayda’s face.
“HEY! HEY!” She shouted down to the man. “Pay attention to me, okay? Listen to me. Listen to- to my voice. I’m Kayda, what’s your name?”
The man grunted, the foam still expanding, his face scrunching in return. With a clenched fist he hit the deck, trying to tolerate the pain.
“It’s- AH--... It’s Henry-” He grunted through gritted teeth, before seizing again from the pain he clearly could not take.
“Henry, it’s great to meet you Henry. The foam’s almost done. Keep talking to me, focus on me, okay?”
He nodded in response.
“Good. I’m a Medic, from Deck 4. I don’t think we’ve met yet; what about you?”
A hiss escaped from his mouth. Or perhaps it was from the room?- no, focus, one job at a time. Wait… isn’t keeping air inside more important-
“Engine… t-tech.” He whimpered, his jaw and skull locked tightly to one another.
And, finally, the foam had begun to harden. But… it hurts the whole way through. Kayda pulled the injector away, letting it float off to the far wall. She reached for Henry’s hand, gripping it tightly, letting him feel something other than the agony, before she finally returned her right hand to her side- and it’s covered in blood.
She looked away for just a moment. Fuck, that’s a lot of blood. It had formed into a fine, growing pool of liquid crimson that floated like a bubble. And her patient noticed her turn away.
“Y-you’re bleeding…”
“... No shit.” She returned, with a chuckle she didn’t realise she had in her. Well, the humour wasn’t there, but the need for something to stave off the quiet was. It was only when she realised how loud everything had been, that the lack of hissing and the absence of a siren in the room gave way to an unending, horrid Silence.
“D-doc…”
“Kayda.”
“R-right, Kayda… You’ve gotta p-patch yourself up- I mean, y-you’re the doctor but… I w-work with- with engines, and even
I
k-know that’s bad…”
Kayda smiled in response, though she wasn’t so sure it was seen in the darkness.
“I will, don’t worry. But, you’re hurt the most- let’s deal with you first.”
She had no more Foam injectors. She may have had one, maybe two bandages in her kit. And a plaster certainly wasn’t gonna help.
They were fucked.
“The foam, it’s- nearly hardened.”
“W-wait, really?”
“Yeah, never had a coagulant foam injection before?”
“...N-no… I don’t think so, I- I don’t get in many accidents.”
“Til… today.” She reminded him.
“T-til today.”
Kayda smiled again. It had no warmth or happiness to it, she could feel it. It was the kind of smile you made around a grandmother who you knew was nearly out the door. She’d been experienced in it, after all.
“Anyways, now it’s hardened, we’re gonna get you on your feet and-”
“N-no… I- I can’t”
“... You can’t what, Henry?”
“G-get on my feet. I c-can’t walk, I- I can’t feel below my- my waist.”
Ohhhh. Oh. Oh shit.
For the first time, perhaps due to her light no longer being on the wound or perhaps because she’d only just realised there was a person in front of her, their eyes met.
“It’s b-bad… isn’t it?” He mumbled, a distraught, almost tearful look on his face.
Kayda’s smile - what was left of it, anyways - crumbled away. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted to- I dunno, throw a mug at a wall. But she also knew that she was a doctor, and even as the adrenaline crash began to weigh like the world on her shoulders, her face stayed neutral, her eyes kind but cold, and her tone as comforting as clinical could get.
“You’ve suffered an abdominal perforation, and it is… not good. You reporting to me, saying you can’t feel your legs - it’s not a good sign.
“But, on the other hand. Some good news. You’re alive - that foam will ensure that for at least a little longer. Secondly, you’re in one of the most secure rooms on this ship, with a doctor who knows how to treat you. And thirdly-”
“The vents are out.”
“Yes, the vents are out- what now?”
“The- the vents… They’re…”
She stood up, shining her torch upwards towards one of the vents above. On a ship, you got used to the constant churns and creaks, and one of the basic constants for a ship with people on it was the cool, rushing sound of air traversing the ship's air ducts.
And all she heard was Silence.
“Well. Shit.”
She sighed heavily, returning to Henry’s side, and she rifled through her med bag. She had stimulants and sedatives somewhere, she knew it.
“W-we… we can get the- S-safe room’s- AHH,” He cried out in pain as he shifted, floating just about the floor, “The s-safe room, it has it’s own- air supply. D-disconnected from the r-rest of the ship.”
There it was. A mixed stim and anaesthetic, blue, held in a needle - Numb and Gun, some people called it. Those people were stupid.
And dead. Those people were almost certainly dead.
“You… don’t say. Hold still, deep breaths for me.”
She removed his jacket. Huh, Unioner. That was a surprise - he certainly didn’t have an accent.
“Doc, you’ve gotta- get that air back online before it gets too stale-”
“Stop jabbering or it’ll get that way quicker. Also, it’s Kayda, remember?”
He nodded, turning away at the sight of the needle as she prodded around the area near the wound. She really wished she had gloves.
“Sharp scratch.”
Sink, and in goes the needle. She pushed down the plunger, his breathing getting stronger as she did.
“Hey, hey.” She clicked with her tongue. “Let’s talk, take your mind off things…”
“L-like what?”
Well, that’s a loaded question… come on, something- not current situation related.
“Where were you born, where’d you grow up?”
Henry covered his eyes with one of his free arms, laying back with what little movement he did have.
“Are you… g-gonna refuse me service if I say so?”
Kayda smiled, though she knew it wasn’t seen.
“Would never dream of it.”
“Uh… so… I w-was born in Atamara, a-actually..”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Y-yeah- o-on Jiao-Ming Terminal.”
She removed the needle, though he didn’t remove his hands from his eyes. No hazardous waste bin- hmm, the far wall would do, as she gently pushed the needle in that direction.
“M-my parents were… Gate Engineers, b-before the war. When the- Militia rolled in, they… well, they couldn’t say no.”
“Mm” Kayda responded, not out for rudeness, but her focus was elsewhere, as she placed one of a cotton pad over the needle hole, bringing his free arm down. “Hold this for me?”
“O-oh, yeah, of course.”
Silence hung for a moment. Both of them could feel it.
“And then?” Kayda asked.
“Oh, r-right… well, we stayed in Atamara for a f-few years til we g-got shipped out to Dalstaff. Then Teldrin, I think… I was like… 8 or 9?”
Kayda nodded. Now the drugs were in his system, he would quieten a little, but he definitely wouldn’t find sleep. In the meantime, she reached for her medkit, taking out the bandages- two. Lords dammit. I don’t think two are gonna cease shit.
Eh, what are you gonna do. She pulled up her undershirt, before placing one over the wound, hissing a little herself at the pain, before she began to wrap the bandage around her waist.
“I o-obviously… picked up a lil’ a-about the… the gates, but my real call was to- to ships.”
“Y-you- Ngh- don’t say.” Kayda said as she finished one wrapping, starting the next. The blood flow seemed to be slowing… at least a little bit.
“W-what about you?”
What? What about me. Can’t you see I’m a little-
fuck
-... a little busy right now? You know, making sure I don’t die?- oh, right, he’s- that clever bastard, he’s using my own tricks against me.
“Oh, I-” She hissed in pain, but tried to keep it in her mouth, “I’m from Axius, actually… Stellar Neighbour buddies, right?” The smile she wore was growing thinner by the moment, but finally she finished, tying a tight bow in her bandages.
“R-right… yeah… Oh! The- The vents…” Henry repeated, slurring slightly. Message received- Kayda stood up, stretching her arms - but not her stomach, didn’t wanna open up all that lovely clotting now.
“How do I turn the Ox on, Henry?”
… No response.
She turned her light down over her compatriot, his eyes looking like iced cakes. He jolted suddenly, perhaps two, three moments later.
“T-The… the what?”
“The vents, the thing that stops us from asphyxiating.”
The wounded man pondered for a second. At least… half, maybe three quarters of that time was likely spent deciphering the sounds that entered his ears.
“T-there-,” he reached out and pointed loosely, moaning slightly at the pain that still got through his heavily drugged nerves, “Behind… that panel. Turn the… nozzle left.”
Kayda nodded, stepping round her patient as she headed towards the far wall. They were made of a darker, gun-metal coloured materials, compared to the stark grey of the ship’s halls, but as with all interiors, they were made of tens of panels, all interlocked to a frame. She removed the one that was pointed at- now, I’m no engineer, but that’s definitely a tank, and that definitely says “O2” on the side, with a nice, red coloured value connected to pipes that lead upwards. Left, turn once, twice, three times.
The Silence was pushed back by a hissing sound, as fresh air gathered and pushed out of the vent. Well, that’s problem number two solved.
Now someone just had to find them before they ran out of air.
*
I’m in this- void. N-not… space. Just… A void. No stars. No clouds or dust. Just, me. Alone. I float - I have nothing to judge my movement off of. And- and the worst part, it’s the quietness. I can’t even hear my breath, like I’m not breathing at all. Just… Silence.
Henry woke with a start, and a jolt of pain immediately rocked up his back, crashing into his brain like a maglev into a structurally weak terminal. He looked up and saw darkness, but a wholly different type of dark - this dark had shades, and detail. And, there was light, below him. Or was it in front of him? Was he standing up?
“Morning, Sailor.” He heard a voice call out from the darkness, til a moment later he was greeted by the softly illuminated face of a stranger. Wait- no, not a stranger. Someone who was a stranger, until yesterday.
Oh, Gods. Yesterday. It wasn’t just a nightmare.
“G-good… morning?” He pushed himself up, floating upwards slightly, before a force- a hand, reached out, keeping him just above the floor. The hand moved off, before coming back, holding a small bottle out to him.
“How are your arms?” The voice of the once-stranger asked. “Feel able to hold this?”
Henry nodded in response, taking the bottle, his brain blanking for a moment.
“Go on, drink. I didn’t give you the bottle for you to warm it up.”
He looked down at the bottle, only now it registering as cold on his fingers. He reached down with his other hand, opening the cap and taking a ravenous sip. You never realise you’re thirsty til you take a drink. He went so fast that he spent a good second still trying to drink the air that had replaced the water he’d downed.
“... S-sorry.” He said as he returned the bottle.
“No, it’s alright. You need to drink plenty, you lost a lot of blood.”
He coughed slightly, and it ached in his chest. He remembers now… it all happened so fast.
“S-so did you… Kayda.” That was her name. Kayda. He avoided that awkward conversation, at least.
“Ah, you remembered my name. Good to see your heads working; I did not want to have woozy mcgee as my only source of conversation for the next… Lords know how long.”
Oh. Right. The Safe room. He was certain his mind had caught up to the present now. Maybe.
“How l-long have we-”
“Twelve hours, give or take… six. I dunno, you were out for longer than people usually sleep. That’s the Numb and Gun for you.”
“... N-numb and Gun?”
“Stimulant-Anaesthetic combo. Wakes you up, then puts you to sleep. Don’t ask me about the name, I wasn’t the idiot who coined it.”
Henry paused for a second. Then… a noise came from his mouth. He wasn’t expecting it, but it was laughter. It started small, then got a whole lot stronger way, way too fast. Then the coughing started.
“Easy there, Sailor. There’ll be no more laughing from you now, I prescribe it.”
“I t-thought laughter was the best medicine?”
“Not when laughter causes you to cough up your lungs.” Kayda replied with a smile that he could not tell was sarcastic.
Kayda lent back against the far wall. She’d… pull them both into some far corner of the safe room. No idea why… warmth maybe? They may be in vacuum, but there’s still metal out there to take the heat away from the room.
“So… you were telling me you’re an Engine Tech,” Kayda continued as if the conversation hadn’t been dead for his entire time asleep, “Do you have any idea what happened?”
He looked over at the Doctor, shaking his head quite weakly.
“‘F-fraid not. Drives were fine shortly after we dropped. I- heard my… my boss, she’s this tense lass, 50s or so, you may have seen her- stomping about in the mornings.”
“Did she have a regrow implant, her left arm?”
“Yes! D-Doris Carvos, Chief Engineer… anyways, so… I heard her t-talk to, probably the Captain. All was okay on our end, but s-scans said the rest of the fleet were nowhere to be seen. Then, c-came through the- the prox alarm. And… well…”
“You dragged yourself here.”
“... yeah. So… to answer y-your question, I have no clue.”
Kayda put her hand to her chin. She looked like a weird mix of an ancient philosopher and a street rat on Valeria Sibus, basked in the harsh light of her torch.
“So, the rest of the fleet was AWOL?”
Henry shrugged- Ow, that hurt more than it probably should, with that dull, uncomfortable pain.
“Y-yeah, as far as I know.”
“... Must be gate inaccuracy, right?”
“Y-yeah, probably… I mean, it is literal Gate Science, so it could be all m-manner of b-bullshit.”
He leant back. Ow. That also hurt. Is everything just gonna hurt now? He could feel a dull ache coming on at the back of his spine, then… nothing beyond that. Not even his overalls against his legs. Kayda began making some noises of boredom, popping her lips and humming slightly, as she glanced about the room.
“S-so… what about your family? O-on Axius, right?”
She nodded. Her hair was a pale blonde-ish colour, so the harsh light of her torch shone right through it in places.
“Yeah, they were. Originally, anyways. They moved about halfway through the war, after the… Second Battle, I think? Thing is, I was in University by then, enrolled in Cannonmast, would you believe…”
“W-woah… Cannonmast?”
“Yeah, I know. It sucked, not nearly worth the hype. But, it also gave the best medical degrees in the Cluster, so of course that’s where I was gonna go.”
“...Were you… there when- when it-”
“Got hit? No, thankfully. Most people weren’t, actually; it was both national holidays and Pioneer’s Day, so I and a lotta people were already on our way out when the fleet arrived.”
Henry nodded, but he felt a sickness to his throat. He felt like a “but” was coming, and maybe it was just his anxiety or due to his injuries or just in his Frontier blood, but he became acutely aware of how easy he’d be to kill in this moment.
“What about you, where’d you study?”
He swallowed down his dry throat, taking the sick feeling with it.
“I didn’t- go to Uni, actually.” He nodded, like he was at a support group, or begging for mercy, he couldn’t decide. “I was an- apprentice, alongside a Teldrani shipwright. He paid like s-shit and- similarly treated me like it too, but… he also t-taught me everything I know about s-ships. That g-got me onto Riberite haulers on the Keeper’s Dance-Vidara circuit, so w-when this old girl was converted, I was perfect for the j-job.”